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Honors History Research Seminar: Choosing a Topic

This guide is designed to support the work of students in the elective Honors Research Seminar.

Getting Started: Choosing a Topic

The first step in your research process will be choosing a topic. Here are some suggestions for generating topic ideas:

  • Is there anything you have read, either in a class or on your own, that has caught your interest? There is food for thought everywhere: history textbooks, news articles, well-researched historical fiction novels, and so much more.
  • Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of school that might provide a general topic for your paper?
  • Do you or a family member have a story to tell that you could also research? Research topics with personal connections can be compelling.
  • School or local history can be rich with topics for discovery. We have a robust school archives and there are many outstanding local history organizations.
  • Still stuck? Take a look at some of the resources in the boxes below.

Using Library Databases

This link will take you to the landing page for all of our ABC-CLIO databases. You can browse by time period through any of the databases here. Some are more general, while others look at specific experiences throughout history.

This link will take you to all of our Gale databases. There are some more general databases here that you may have used previously - such as US History in Context, Biography in Context, or Issues in Context - while there are others that comprise resources unique to a specific topic, such as Health & Medicine, Agriculture, or Economics.

Using Library Books

If you're having trouble thinking of a topic, the library can help! 

Sometimes it can be helpful to browse the shelves and look at some books. Try looking at books catalogued in the 300s (these are the social studies books) or in the 900s (these are the history books).

Some popular topics are found in these sections:

  • 070: News Media & Journalism
  • 305: Women’s Rights; Race; Racism
  • 323: Civil Rights
  • 327: International Relations/Espionage
  • 330: Economics
  • 355: Military/Warfare
  • 610-620: Medicine & Health (including Diseases, Mental Health, and Addiction)
  • 780: Music
  • 796: Sports 
  • 940-949: History of Europe (including WWI & WWII)
  • 950-959: History of Asia
  • 960-969: History of Africa
  • 970-979: History of North America
    • 973: US History (arranged chronologically)
  • 980-989: History of South America